Food security is a “top priority of the country”. With the continuous technological innovation of synthetic biology and the continuous expansion of its application fields, it has promoted the huge development potential of biological economy. To build a new platform for biological economy and empower the construction of China into a strong country in agriculture, the first International Symposium on Agriculture and Plant Synthetic Biology was held at Mingzhu campus of SIAT University (preparatory) from December 9 to 11. The event gathered over 300 industrial scholars including scientific research talents, representatives of leading enterprises and related policy guidance parties at the frontiers of agricultural and plant synthetic biology to have an in-depth exploration on the latest dynamics and trends of synthetic biology, promote the development of the field and show a new way for the development of biomanufacturing.
The event was hosted by the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and SIAT University (preparatory), organized by Agriculture and Plant Synthetic Biology Research Center of Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, and School of Synthetic Biology of SIAT University (preparatory), and co-organized by Shenzhen University, Shenzhen Agricultural Genome Institute of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Southern University of Science and Technology.
Attendees of the event pose for a photo
The chairman of this conference was Yang Zhenbiao, professor from School of Synthetic Biology of SIAT University and director of the Research Center of Agriculture and Plant Synthetic Biology, while the co-chairmen were professors Hu Qiang and Zhang Youming from the School of Synthetic Biology of SIAT University. Specially invited guests included near 40 experts in agriculture and plant synthetic biology, such as Li Jiayang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a professor of the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhu Jiankang, an academician of the National Academy of Sciences and a professor at the Institute of Frontier Biotechnology of Southern University of Science and Technology, Tang Kexuan, an academician of the European Academy of Sciences and a distinguished professor of Shanghai Jiaotong University, Liu Luning, a professor of the University of Liverpool, and professor Salim Al-Bahili from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. These experts and influential figures gathered at the site for an exchange and collision of views in the academic event.
With the theme of “Synthetic Biology Driving Agricultural Innovation”, the conference covered a wide range of areas from basic research to applied research: the infinite potential of synthetic biology in addressing such issues as global food safety, important crops, economic plants and algae, agricultural microbial germplasm innovation, and sustainable development. The conference set up five topics, namely “chassis and biomanufacturing”, “synthetic biology tools”, “germplasm innovation in synthetic biology”, “metabolic and development pathway” and “metabolic and development pathway engineering”. Through forms such as invited keynote speech, topic-specific reports, poster displaying and round-table discussions, the latest achievements in the field of agriculture and plant synthetic biology were shared and explored.
At the opening ceremony, Li Huilai, a Party group member and deputy director of Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Committee and head of the municipal bureau of foreign experts and expressed sincere hope and expectation for all scientific research workers attending the event. He hoped that through this international workshop, more international top experts could be attracted to Shenzhen to promote scientific research cooperation and join hands with the industry’s top innovators to focus on the overwhelming technology of agriculture and plant synthetic biology, follow the pace of the times in seizing the strategic opportunities and advancing the development of global agriculture and plant synthetic biology.
Zhang Xian’en, dean of the School of Synthetic Biology at SIAT University (preparatory), said that the conference was not only a holy place for the world’s top experts to exchange views, but also provided a platform for young scholars to showcase themselves. He hoped that this event would attract more talents from professional fields, enhance the vitality of original innovation, and create a new business card of China’s agriculture and plant synthetic biology.
Liu Chenli, Vice President of Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and President of Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, expressed his gratitude and welcome to the arrival of experts and scholars in the field, and hoped that everyone could share their wisdom with an open attitude in this event. He mentioned that Shenzhen’s development speed was amazing, as the city’s status kept rising, yet there was still a long way to go in technology and education. We should work together to create an exchange platform and an international environment for interdisciplinary and integrated development in Shenzhen. In the field of agriculture and plant synthetic biology, we should constantly promote scientific exchange and international cooperation, and explore the great potential and application prospect of the subject together.
Yang Zhenbiao, chairman of the conference, said that he warmly welcomed experts and scholars in the field to Shenzhen to attend the event, and expected everyone to discuss and promote the development of agriculture and plants in the field of synthetic biology.
In the reports delivered by invited guests, academician Li Jiayang explained Taraxacum kok-saghyz Rodin (TKS) as a promising species for synthetic biology research and metabolic engineering, thus paving the way for accelerating the development and utilization of alternative rubber crops. Academician Zhu Jiankang systematically and comprehensively introduced the healthy diet breeding and further introduced the relevant concepts of scientific breeding; academician Zhang Youming elaborated the development and new application direction of bacterial genome engineering technology; academician Tang Kexuan demonstrated the strategy of producing important natural products with plant synthetic biology. Professor Liu Luning explained the proof of concept of fully functional CO2 fixed organelles and the entire CO2 concentration mechanism in chloroplasts to improve crop photosynthesis and productivity. Professor Salim Al-Babili explained the relevant ideas on the use of carotenoid metabolism for sustainable agriculture. The invited guests discussed and explored how to apply synthetic biology technology in the field of agricultural science and technology innovation, solve the “bottlenecks” in such fields as agriculture, germplasm resources, and smart agriculture, make up the shortages in such areas as industrial layout, breeding technology, agricultural product quality standards, and digital agriculture, to get rid of the status that key and core technology was restricted and promote the agricultural security.
The School of Synthetic Biology of SIAT University (preparatory), as an important platform to cultivate reserve talents for the field of synthetic biology China, provided a special opportunity for young students to showcase their professionalism and research achievements. Young students from universities and research institutes had a wonderful competition in academic reports and posters. Finally, the team from Hong Kong Baptist University won the first prize; the team from Fujian Agriculture & Forestry University won the second prize; the teams from Fujian Agriculture & Forestry University, Southern University of Science and Technology and Sun Yat-Sen University won the third prize. The teams said, the workshop’s content was colorful and wonderful, allowing them to have a gain in such fields as basic research and innovative application of agriculture and plant synthetic biology and inspire their creativity and ideas in scientific research.
The first International Symposium on Agriculture and Plant Synthetic Biology was held in Shenzhen, injecting new impetus to the development of global agriculture and plant synthetic biology. The Agricultural and Plant Synthetic Biology Research Center of Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology will help build a strong agricultural country with strong support capacity, strong scientific and technological equipment, strong management system, strong industrial resilience and strong competitiveness, and safeguard the stable and safe supply of grains and important agricultural products in China. Meanwhile, the Center will also introduce and unite the world’s renowned botanical biologist and outstanding young botanist, and launch first-class studies of agriculture and plant synthetic biology, to create and utilize new crop breeding and production technology, develop new agricultural products such as algae, develop and utilize synthetic agricultural microorganisms, lead and promote a new generation of biological breeding, green manufacturing, green agriculture and emerging ecological industries.
